Train order delivery device



y 1942- w. E. ROBERTSON Y 2,289,213

TRAIN ORDER DELIVERY DEVICE Filed Sept. 6, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 W. E.ROBERTSON TRAIN ORDER DELIVERY DEVICE July 7, 1942.

Filed Sept. 6, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENIOK zzz/zmem y 1942- w. E.ROBERTSON TRAIN ORDER DELIVERY DEVICE INVEWOR.

3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 6, 1940 BY yfze Iax/ lofienso/z auwfwPatented July 7, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TRAIN ORDER DELIVERYDEVICE Wayne Earl Robertson, Westby, Wis. Application September 6, 1940,Serial No. 355,644

Claims.

Railroad trains are operated on written orders from the train dispatcherto the trainmen, delivered in person from time to time during each run.The average cost of stopping and starting a train is estimated atapproximately five dollars ($5.00), the cost increasing with the speedand the weight of the train. The time lost in stopping for orders andgetting up to speed again interferes not only with operating economy butalso with schedules, and increases the chance of accident. The growinguse of faster schedules has made it more and more desirable or necessaryto deliver train orders without stopping, or even slowing down thetrain, and has also greatly increased the difiiculty of delivering therequired number of orders to a train.

Each engineer and conductor, and sometimes the flagman on the rear end,must receive a separate order, and these men are unavoidably located atdifferent places in the train. The engineers are further from the groundthan the conductors or the flagman, and the two engineers on a doubleheader are only about a locomotive length apart. These conditions havemade the delivery of orders on a speeding train uncertain, difiicult anddangerous.

The principal object of this invention is to make the delivery of trainorders certain, easy and safe. Generally speaking, this is accomplishedby mounting each separate folded order on a looped cord hung on an orderfork, to which the cord is hitched for ready detachment when the orderstrikes the trainmans hand as he passes. The supports for the forks, andtherefore the orders, are arranged to hold the order in a definiterelation to the window sill, for example, of the engineer's cab, or thecar platform, as the case may be. The orders for the engineer are atdifierent elevations from the orders for the conductor and fiagman, theorder for the second engineer being above that for the first,

engineer and dropping to the a propriate position immediately after thefirst e gineer receives his order, and the order for the flagman at therear end being above the order for the conductor, and dropping intoposition after the conductor receives his order.

The receipt of the order by the first engineer, or by the conductor,operates a trip or trigger supporting the companion order in raisedposition, and allows it to immediately drop into the appropriateposition for receipt by the following engineer or the flagman. Thus eachman merely holds his hand in the appropriate position, and

the orders are delivered to each in turn as the train speeds by thestation. The orders are set on the supports in advance of the expectedtrain, and no excitement or error of the station operator will cause afailure of delivery or injury to the man receiving the order.

Additional objects will become apparent from the following detaileddescription and from the drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a schematic viewillustrating the disposition of my device with respect to a train;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic illustration showing the position of the orderdelivery arms after all except the last order has been removed;

Fig. 3 is a detailed perspective view of the order delivery device;

Fig. 4 is a partial end view of the upper delivery device showing'amethod of attaching the second order delivery arm to the first orderdelivery arm;

Fig. 5 is a detailed illustration of my order delivery device, showingthe position of the unit after the removal of a train order from thefirst delivery arm;

Fig. 6 is a detailed the base; and

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic representation of the staff.

Referring to Fig. 1, my assembled train order delivery device comprisesa base, generally designated II, a staff [2, a staff extension l3, anupper order delivery unit generally designated I4, and a lower orderdelivery unit generally designated I6. The base II, shown more clearlyin Fig. 6, consists of a pipe ll having a solid point l8 for ease ofinstallation. The upper end of the base is provided with aligned groovesID. A collar 2| is attached to the upper portion of the base in anydesired manner, as by welding-its location on the base being such thatthe upper end of the pipe I! extends slightly beyond the upper portionof the collar 2|.

Two parallel vertically disposed flanges 22 are formed integrally withcollar 21, and are provided with aligned openings 23 in theirextremities. A cap 24 is also provided having internal and externaldimensions approximately equal to those of the collar 2|. The capcarries a vertically disposed flange 26, adapted to be received betweenthe vertically disposed flanges 22 on collar 2!, and is supportedbetween the flanges 22 by a pin 27 passing through the openings 23 and acorresponding opening through the flange 26, in such manner that the cap24 may be swung into closed position over the base to prevent theaccumulation of foreign matter withperspective illustration of in thepipe N. If desired, the collar 2| and the cap 24 may be provided withcoop'erating lugs 28 having openings formed therein to permit lockingthe cap in its closed position.

The base H is driven into the ground a suit able distance from thetracks, leaving only a small portion of the base extending above thelevel of the ground. The staff I2 i hollow and has an external diameterslightly smaller than the internal diameter of the base ll. Verticaladjustment of the staff is secured by providing a series of thevertically spaced aligned openings 29 in the lower portion of the staffl2, which are adapted to ,receive a key 3|, secured to the staff by achain 32. The key 3| rests in the grooves H) in the upper portion of thebase II when the staff I2 is inserted therein, so that the overallheight of the staff I2 is controlled by the position of the key 3| inthe staff l2. This construction also prevents rotation of the stallrelative to the base, and permits its removal without difficulty.

The staiT extension l3 telescopes into the staff l2, which is providedwith a thumb-screw 33 in its upper portion to hold the staff extensionin an extended position. The upper train order delivery unit I4 isattached to the upper portion of the staff extension l3, and comprises aframe generally designated 34, a rotatable shaft 36 journaled in theframe generally designated 31, and a lower delivery arm, generallydesignated 38, associated with the shaft 36, and a trigger 39 movablyassociated with the frame 34.

Referring to Fig. 3, the frame 34 consists of two sections, a leg 4| ofthe left-hand section cooperating with leg 42 of the righthand sectionto define an opening having an inside diameter slightly less than theoutside diameter of the staff extension |3. The frame may be attached toany portion of the staff extension l3 by inserting the extension in theopening defined by the legs 4| and 42, moving the frame to the desiredposition, and clamping the legs together with bolts 43, which extendthrough aligned openings in the legs 4| and 42.

The left section consists of five legs, each extending laterally fromits adjacent legs. A leg 44 extends outwardly from the rear end of leg4|; leg 46 extends rearwardly from the outer end of leg 44 parallel toleg 4|; leg 41 extends outwardly to the left from the rear end of leg 46parallel to leg 44; and leg 48 extends inwardly from the outer end ofleg 41 parallel to leg 4|. The inner ends of legs 4| and 4B are insubstantially the same vertical plane.

The right-hand section comprises a leg 49 extending outwardly to theright from the rear end of leg 42, and leg extending rearwardly from theouter end of leg 49 parallel to legs 48, 49, 42 and 4|. Leg 52 extendsoutwardly to the right from the inner end of leg 42, substantiallyparallel to leg 49 of the same section. The outer portion of leg 49 isangularly disposed with respect to the vertical plane of the remainclerof the arm, as indicated at 53.

One arm 54 of the shaft 36 is journaled in the legs 46 and SI, andprojects outwardly beyond arm 5|. The other arm 56 of the shaft 36extends inwardly adjacent to leg 46 from the arm 54, and has a tube 51attached to its extremity.

A collar 58 fits loosely over the projecting portion of the arm 54 ofthe shaft 35, and carries a permanently fixed laterally extendingtubular extension 59 in which is fixed an arm 6|. The

34, an upper delivery arm,

r the leg 48.

outer section of the arm 6| has a tube 51', similar to tube 51, attachedto its outer extremity.

The outermost position of the collar 58 on the shaft 36 is fixed by apin 62 extending through a transverse opening in the shaft 36, andprojecting laterally from the shaft in both directions. Relatively widediametrically opposed grooves 63 are formed in the outer end of thecollar 53, the projecting ends of the pin 62 lying within these grooves.The inner end of the collar 58 is in contact with the face of the frameleg 5|. By this construction it may be seen that I have provided a 10stmotion linkage between the shaft 36 and the collar 5|l. The position andextent of the grooves 63, as well as the position of the pin 62 withrespect to the leg 56 of the shaft 36 is such that the pin 62, actingagainst the edges of the grooves 93, will support the arm 6| at an angleof about 30 from the vertical when the arm 56 is substantiallyhorizontal, and will allow the arm 56 to fall to a vertical positionwhen the arm 6| falls to a horizontal position. A spring catch 64 isattached to the under side of the arm GI, and is positioned to engagethe leg 53 of the frame 34 when the arm 6| is allowed to fall to ahorizontal position.

The trigger 39 is formed with a closed loop at one end which engages theeye of an eye-bolt 65, attached to the inner portion of the frame leg4|. The length of the trigger 99 is greater than the distance betweenthe frame legs 4| and 48, and is moved to its operative position byplacing the free end of the trigger on the upper portion of In thisposition the trigger 39 will prevent the downward movement of the arm 56beyond an approximately horizontal position.

Order forks, generally designated 61, comprise an arm 69, to one end ofwhich is clamped angularly extending resilient fingers 69. The clampconsists of two triangular shaped plates, designated H, which, in theirassembled relation, define receiving openings for the end of the arm 58and the fingers B9. The plates Il may be drawn together by bolts 12,thereby securing the parts of the order fork 61 in fixed relation. Aflat spring 73 is secured to one of the plates H, as by a screw 14, andis shaped to remain normally in resilient contact with the plate. Thetube 51 receives the end of the order fork arm 68, a thumb screw 16being provided on the tube to retain the arm in position.

The lower order delivery unit I6 is generally similar to the upper unitpreviously described, but is normally attached to the staff l2 insteadof to the staff extension l3. Furthermore, as the lost motion device forthe upper delivery arm is not necessary on this unit, the collar 53,tubular section 59, and the arm 6| described in connection with theupper unit may be replaced by a leg 11 formed integrally with the shaft36. The leg 11 should be disposed at an angle of greater than thirty butless than ninety degrees above the leg 56'. The catch 64 may also beeliminated from this unit, if desired.

The operation of my device may be best described in connection with ahigh-speed passenger train employing two locomotives, as both engineers,the conductor and the fiagman must receive orders. To attach the ordersto the forks each end of a section of string 19 is tied to the order ina manner well known in the art, and the string, now forming a closedloop, is passed over notches 19 in the ends of the fingers 99, the orderbeing located approximately midway between the extremities of thefingers 69. Both sections of the string 18 are drawn together, bowingthe fingers 69, and are passed between the spring 73 and the plate H,the spring serving to hold the cord 18 taut.

The same process is performed for each fork, and when completed theforks may be secured in the tubes 51 and 51 by tightening thecorresponding thumb screw.

The cords l8, attaching the orders to forks intended for attachment tothe first or lower arms of each unit, should be cut sufficiently long toprovide a loop extending beyond the spring clip 13. The upper unit I4 isplaced in operative position by raising the arm 56 above the horizontal,placing the loop of the string 18 around the trigger 39, and placing thetrigger 39 in position with its free end resting upon the upper edge ofthe frame leg 48. With the trigger in this position the lower arm 38will be in a substantially horizontal position and the upper fork willbe held in a raised position, but in the same quadrant with the lowerfork. A lower unit I6 is prepared for operation in a similar manner.

The position of the lower unit It on the staff I2 is adjusted, either bymoving the unit upon the staff or by changing the position of the key3|, to bring the order into easy reach of the conductor. The upper unitI4 is generally clamped to the top of the staff extension l3, and israised to about the level of a locomotive cab window by moving the staffextension [3 upwardly, its position being fixed by tightening the thumbscrew 33.

To obtain the order the engineer on the first locomotive extends his armfrom the cab window, his hand passing between the fingers 69 of thelower order fork of the upper unit. The looped cord 78 strikes his handor forearm, and is pulled free of the resilient fingers 69 and thespring catch 73. The cord also pulls the trigger 39 free of the frameleg 48, thereby releasing the cord and the lower delivery arm 38.Practically all of the weight of the movable parts of the unit act toswing both delivery arms downwardly immediately with considerablevelocity until the upper delivery arm 3'! strikes the frame leg 52. Thespring catch 64 engages the arm 52 to prevent vertical movement orrebound of the delivery arm 31. The lower arm is not immediately checkedin its downward movement, however, due to the lost motion device ondelivery arm 31, and will continue to move downwardly until it reachesan approximately vertical position well out of the way of the engineeron the second locomotive and the mail pouch catcher. The upper arm 31assumes a position substantially identical to that formerly assumed bythe lower arm 38, and within easy reach of the engineer on the secondlocomotive.

It may be seen that if the train is moving at high rate of speed and theengineers are only about a locomotives length apart, the upper orderfork must assume the horizontal position with considerable rapidity.This rapid movement is provided by the lost motion device, for the upperarm is in the same quadrant as the lower arm and as close to ahorizontal position as practical, so that both arms exert close to themaximum possible rotative force on the shaft 36 the moment the trigger39 is released.

The conductor of the train may reach from a vestibule window and easilysecure the order held by the lower delivery arm of the lower unit, whichthat described for the upper unit. The lost motion device and catch, aspreviously mentioned, are not necessarily on this unit, as the distancebetween the conductor and the fiagman is usually sufficiently great topermit the second order delivery arm to assume its operative position inample time. The lower unit is also generally lower than the mail pouchcatcher.

Unless other orders are to be delivered to a subsequent train within ashort time, the staff extension l3 may be retracted into the staff 12and the entire assembly removed from the base II. This is desirable, asobstructions on a railway station platform are liable to constitute asafety hazard. It is, of course, unnecessary to employ all four orderforks, and practically anycombination may be used. If, for example,orders are to be delivered only to the engineer and the conductor, onlyone arm of the upper and one arm of the lower unit need be employed. Inthis case it is immaterial which of the two: arms on each unit are used.

The foregoing description has been made for the purpose of illustrationonly, and as it is obvious that many modifications may be made withoutdeparting from the true scope and spirit of my invention I do not wishto limited to the precise details described except as defined by theappended claims.

I claim:

1. In apparatus for delivering train orders, a frame, a rotatable shaftcarried by the frame, two order delivery arms carried by the shaftarranged at an angle to each other, with one fol-- lowing the other inrotation, means for holding the following arm in raised position whilethe leading arm is in order delivering position including a trigger, thetrigger being directly actuated by the delivery of an order carried bythe leading arm, means rigid with the frame to stop the second arm inorder delivering position, and means to prevent rebound from thatposition, said means including a clip on the following arm disposed toengage a portion of the frame.

2. In an apparatus for delivering train orders, a base, a removablestaff in said base including upper and lower sections adjustable withrespect to each other, a frame adjustable along the lower section, asecond frame carried by the upper section, a rotatable shaft carried byeach frame, first and second order delivery arms carried by each shaft,order delivery forks attached to the arms, flexible members eachattachable to an order associated with each order delivery fork, amovable trigger cooperating with the frame for temporarily holding eachfirst arm in order delivering position and directly actuated by thecorresponding flexible member, and a stop rigid with the frame to catchthe second arm in order delivering position.

3. A train order delivery device including a frame, a shaft rotatablymounted on the frame, leading and following order delivery arms mountedin spaced relation on the shaft one above the other and arranged forrotation in substantially vertical planes, a movable trigger supportedby the frame and cooperating therewith for holding the leading arm inorder delivery position, and a looped order holding cord associated withthe lower order delivery arm, the trigger being inserted in the loopedorder holding cord whereby delivery of an order directly actuates thetrigger and releases the arms for rotation.

4. A train order delivery device including a will release the trigger39'. in a manner similar to frame, a shaft rotatably mounted on theframe,

a leading order delivery arm rigidly attached to the shaft and adaptedto receive an order fork, a following order delivery arm adapted toreceive another fork, means interconnecting the following arm to theshaft, said arms being angularly spaced from one another and arrangedfor rotation in substantially vertical planes, and a movable triggerinterposable between the leading arm and the frame for supporting theleading arm for order delivery position and adapted for directconnection to the order holding cord associated with the leading arm,the connecting means between the following arm and the shaft including alost motion device whereby restraint of the following arm in orderdelivery position will not immediately restrain movement of the leadingarm.

5. In a train order delivery device, a frame, a horizontal shaftrotatably mounted on the frame, a leading order delivery arm rigidlyattached to the shaft, a following order delivery arm rotatablysupported by the shaft, each of said arms being adapted to support anorder fork, means movable with the shaft and engaging the following armfor defining a minimum angular displacement between the arms of lessthan 90, the maximum displacement between the arms being not less than90 whereby downward rotation of the following arm may be abruptlystopped without immediately restraining rotation of the shaft.

6. A train order delivery device comprising a frame, a rotatable shaftcarried by the frame, upper and lower order delivery arms carried by theshaft, a removable flexible member associated with each of the arms andadapted for at tachment to an order, a trigger movably mounted directlyon said frame and cooperable with the frame for holding the lower arm inorder delivering position and the upper arm in raised position, theflexible member associated with the lower arm directly engaging thetrigger whereby movement of the flexible member will release saidtrigger for releasing said arms for rotation, and means to stop theupper arm in order delivering position.

7. A train order delivery device comprising a frame, a rotatable shaftcarried by the frame, upper and lower order delivery arms carried by theshaft, said arms defining an angle, a holding device movably mounteddirectly on said frame and cooperable with the frame for holding thelower arm in order delivering position and the second upper arm inraised position, order holding means movable with each arm and includingan easily removable flexible member for holding an order, the flexiblemember on the lower order supporting arm directly engaging said holdingdevice whereby in the delivery of an order tension on said flexiblemember positively removes said holding device to allow rotation of saidarms to bring said upper arm. into order delivery position.

8. In a train order delivery device. a frame, a rotatable shaft carriedby the frame, an order delivery arm attached to the shaft, a secondorder delivery arm carried by the shaft above the first arm but spacedtherefrom and adapted to follow the first arm in rotation, a separateorder holding device secured to each of said arms, the order holdingdevices being of the type employing a looped order holding cord, and atrigger movable directly on said frame and interposable between thefirst order delivery arm and the frame to retain said first orderdelivery arm in order delivery position, said trigger extending througha loop of the order holding cord associated with the lower delivery armfor releasing said trigger when said cord is removed from said orderholding device.

9. In a train order delivery device, a frame, a rotatable shaft carriedby the frame, an. order delivery arm attached to the shaft, a secondorder delivery arm attached to the shaft, said second order delivery armcarried by the shaft above the first arm but spaced both laterally andangularly therefrom and adapted to follow the first arm in rotation, anorder holding device secured to each of said arms, the order holdingdevices being of the type employing a looped order holding cord, amovable trigger directly on said frame and interposable between thefirst order delivery arm and the frame to retain said first orderdelivery arm in order delivery position, the trigger extending through aloop of the order holding cord associated with the lower order deliveryarm when the latter is in order holding position whereby removal of theorder and cord directly releases the trigger from holding thefirst-named arm for rotation, a stop rigid with the frame for haltingthe second order delivery arm in order delivery position, and meansassociated with the arm and frame for preventing rebound of said secondarm from the stop.

10. In an order holding device, a staff, an upper frame member on saidstaff, an upper shaft journaled on said frame, upper and lower orderdelivery arms mounted on the end portions of said shaft, respectively,one on each side of said staff, a lower frame on said staff, a lowershaft journaled on said lower frame, upper and lower delivery armsmounted on the end portions of said lower shaft, respectively, orderforks carried by said arms, a trigger directly connected to each framefor engaging the corresponding lower arm for holding said arms inelevated position, a flexible order supporting member for each fork, theflexible members for the lower forks engaging said triggers forreleasing the same when the corresponding flexible member is re leased,said lower arms being on one side of said staff and the upper arms onthe other, whereby interference between the arms of the upper and lowerframes are prevented.

WAYNE EARL ROBERTSON.

